Coronado Brewing Expands Beyond the Island

To the casual observer happening upon a six-pack of Islander IPA or Mermaid Red - say an out-of-state tourist staying at the Del and meandering down Orange Avenue - Coronado Brewing Company (coronadobrewingcompany.com) may at first glance seem a trite down-home operation geared toward a niche distribution area. And sure, it may have started as such when brothers Rick and Ron Chapman founded the company 15 years ago. But the times, they are a changin' for CBC.

These understated yet savvy islanders have experienced such an immense rise in accounts in 13 states, Japan, New Zealand, and England that, for some time now, they've been unable to produce enough beer to service them all and have some left for the hometown crowd. That will all change with come Spring 2012 when CBC begins brewing out of a new facility located at 1205 Knoxville in the Tecolote Canyon area.

Their new spot will take up a 20,000 SF building and be outfitted with a 30-barrel brew house as well as a tasting room and retail shop. It's a far cry from the 10-barrel facility situated in the rear of CBC's brewpub (170 Orange Avenue) and the latest case of a local brewery expanding to respond to increasing demand from the drinking public. In the past 12 months alone, nine breweries (AleSmith, Alpine, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Lightning, The Lost Abbey, Manzanita, Mission, and Stone) have either expanded or entered into the planning stages for doing so.

Ron and Rick Chapman of Coronado Brewing Company share a toast to their company's growth.